Hello,
My name is Nicole Burguess and I’m writing on behalf of Rogers to give you some additional information about the Rogers rate plans available for the iPhone.
The iPhone 3G bundles released June 27 are not the only price plans available to customers, they are the high value plans that allow Rogers customers to use the device to its fullest and offer considerable savings over separate voice and data plans that exist in market today.
That said, Rogers customers have more choices available to them and can use their existing voice and smartphone data plans if they wish. For example, they can select from the new data pricing (ranging from $30 for 300MB to $100 for 6GB or $50 Flex Rate plan) and add a voice plan, or they can choose a combined voice and data plan to best suit their individual needs.
Customers are not required to take the value packs, and can order most other features a la carte, such as $7 for Caller ID.
Existing customers can keep their existing voice service plan and pick a separate data plan (not in the iPhone 3G bundle) to meet their needs. They will need to check their upgrade eligibility, but any customer with a monthly service fee that is over $30 can upgrade to an iPhone 3G at $199 (for the 8GB model). Other options outside the iPhone bundle may be available depending on the customer’s individual information.
If you have any questions, please let me know and I will do my best to help you.
Sincerely,
Nicole Burguess
Account Executive | MS&L Digital

I replied with the following:

Thank you for emailing Nicole.  Two questions.
First, what about an unlimited (and affordable) data plan?  I’ve found from personal experience unlimited data plans allow users to feel free to use their devices to the fullest and not worry
Second I would like to post your email verbatim (without your contact info, because that would just be mean), would that be okay?
Tris

And Nicole replied today:

Hi, Tris.
Thanks for writing back. In answer to your question, The iPhone bundles were created to provide the best value to our customers.
With respect to Rogers iPhone 3G pricing, we believe that the customer that wants this device wants to fully appreciate all that iPhone 3G has to offer so there’s a wide selection of high value price packages to meet the needs of Canadians. We believe that unlimited plans could end up costing customers more for what they don’t use. Rogers’ iPhone 3G plans will more than accommodate the vast majority of customers.
Yes, you may post my e-mail verbatim. And thank you for your consideration in omitting my contact info.
I’m available if you have any additional questions about this information.
Kind regards,
Nicole Burguess

Nicole is right is some respects, given the exorbitant data rates in Canada, yeah and unlimited plan might cost far more that you actually use.  You can see the flaw in the logic.  The US can do it.  Unlimited data plans there are affordable.  Why not here?

Again, I’m saying the same things I always do.  Canada needs better mobile and data rates.  It’s appalling, really.

The protest site RuinediPhone is coming up with a 403 forbidden for me, very odd error I think.

Is the techie outcry about the iPhone going to be what we need to get some change?  When CNN is talking about and bringing attention to how much we’re getting the shaft up here, maybe that is enough.

Wishful thinking, I know.

Post from: EveryJoe

The official word on iPhone pricing in Canada

Now we do and all I can say is: ouch.

The official Rogers press release give us a table with all the plans:

iPhone 3G Price Plans at Rogers Wireless
—————————————-

————————————————————————-
Sent Incoming
Text Text Visual
Price Voice Data Messages messages Voicemail
————————————————————————-
$60 / 150 minutes + unlimited 400 MB 75 Unlimited Unlimited
month Evening and Weekend
————————————————————————-
$75 / 300 minutes + unlimited 750 MB 100 Unlimited Unlimited
month Evening and Weekend
————————————————————————-
$100 / 600 minutes + unlimited 1 GB 200 Unlimited Unlimited
month Evening and Weekend
————————————————————————-
$115 / 800 minutes + unlimited 2 GB 300 Unlimited Unlimited
month Evening and Weekend
————————————————————————-

Data Usage – What You Get
————————-

————————————————————————-
Monthly
Data Usage Online Applications
————————————————————————-
400 MB up to 200,000 text emails or 3,100 web pages or 1,360 photo
attachments
————————————————————————-
750 MB up to 380,000 text emails or 5,900 web pages or 2,560 photo
attachments
————————————————————————-
1 GB up to 524,000 text emails or 8,000 web pages or 3,500 photo
attachments
————————————————————————-
2 GB up to 1,048,000 text emails or 16,000 web pages or 7,000
photo attachments
————————————————————————-
Pricing includes unlimited Wi-Fi access at all Rogers and Fido
Hotspots. Rogers Wireless will also offer two voice value packs for popular
wireless features: a $15 monthly value pack including Caller ID, Who
Called, Caller Ring Trax, 2,500 Sent Text Messages and 2,500 Call
Forwarding Minutes; and a $20 monthly value pack including Caller ID, Who
Called, Caller Ring Trax, 10,000 Sent Text Messages and 6:00 p.m. Early
Evening Calling and 2,500 Call Forwarding Minutes.

Mark Evans’ (turns out I’m going to be living within a few block of him) has his analysis and yeah, he’s right, the iPhone might be a dud up here, sorta.

If this reaction is typical then it’s entirely possible the iPhone could initially be a dud in Canada until pricing becomes more attractive. It could also mean the 100,000 “grey market” iPhone users in Canada could continue to expand.

If you look at the chart below, Rogers lays out the different data scenarios in terms of how many e-mail messages you can receive, for example, with each package. One thing glaringly missing is how many online videos you could watch for each data plan. What Rogers doesn’t want to admit is you could easily burn through 2GB of data (Rogers’ biggest plan) if you watched a modest number YouTube videos a month.

One other thought: why would Rogers not offer an unlimited data plan if one of the major selling points of the new iPhone is it works on a 3G network, which is fast enough to make using the wireless Web easier and more attractive? It could be Rogers is jammed because it would have to offer unlimited plans to all of its Blackberry users. Source: Rogers Unveils iPhone Pricing | Mark Evans

The sorta comes in with people like Rebecca and others with hacked iPhones already, I’m betting that the hackathon will only continue.

Let’s add a twist to this, if Telus switches to GSM as has been rumoured, then they could scoop a lot of hacked iPhones with better data and voice plans.

Not that they are leading the way in the data plan department.  I am so not giving up my unlimited data plan with by EVDO card.

What’s the deal Rogers?  You just trying to eek out more money from gadget-crazed consumers before they bolt away when new providers hit?

Post from: EveryJoe

Still not getting an iPhone and Rogers’ iPhone plans aren’t helping

Sorry Canada, no iPhone for you
Apple’s “Jesus phone” (aka iPhone) still isn’t really available in Canada yet.  Sure you can buy a hacked phone that is unlocked, but that is a risk that I’m not willing to take.  One of the big stumbling blocks, we surmise, is that Rogers Canada (the only GSM provider) doesn’t offer an unlimited data plan.  You might think that hope is on the horizon with Rogers’ recent ads for unlimited data plans.  Ah, but no, there is a catch:

What does Rogers mean by unlimted mobile browsing though.? If you read the fine print you’ll see this: “Important: This plan includes unlimited on-device mobile browsing only. Plan is available on select phones only (PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible). Data usage incurred on ineligible devices, incurred while tethering (using device as wireless modem for laptop) or incurred using non-Rogers (3rd party) applications downloaded to your device will be subject to pay-per-use charges of 5 cents/KB.”

What does that mean? It means that if you use a non-rogers browser (like safari) you pay the per-use rate. It also means that all you have is unlimted WAP data. Translation: crappy web browsing, not what the iPhone was intended for. Source: Unlimited Data Plan in Canada « A Life Untold

Yeah unlimited means that you can’t really use these devices as they are intended.  As Titus continues:

So what does this mean for the iPhone. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You do not get any added features on your hacked iPhone in Canada if you add this plan.  In case you didn’t get that. This announcement does not mean that we will be getting the iPhone anytime soon. We Are No Closer to Getting the iPhone in Canada.

Shame on Rogers for continuing to screw their customers over. I hope that people read all the fine print closely before getting exciting and adding this feature. I’m worried that when next months bill comes some people are going to be in for a shock.

Finally I wish that American sites, like Apple Insider, who have no understanding of the issues would stop reporting on “developments” like this. Its getting annoying, please stop.  Sites like ArsTechnica have understood that “unlimted” doesn’t mean unlimited, and I thank them for that. Source: Unlimited Data Plan in Canada « A Life Untold

I can’t wait until the consumer backlash hits Rogers for this one.  Wow.  Can you imagine the calls to customer service when people get huge cell phone bills with data charges?  I certainly wouldn’t want to be a call centre person at Rogers.

When will the carriers get it?
As we all vent and muse about Canada needing better mobile data rates and plans I have to wonder if the folks at Telus, Bell, and Rogers are really paying attention to the explosion of mobile apps and developments in the rest of the world.  At DEMO there were awesome developments in mobile, like Rove’s PCMobilizr out of Ottawa.  Here’s a company that has an app that lets you control your home PC from your mobile device (Blackberry specifically).  I’ve seen it first hand and it is a wow thing.  Now are they looking at launching with a push in Canada?  No.  Why?  Because our mobile data plans are so expensive people are scared to use things that use data.  I’m lucky, I do have an unlimited, truly unlimited, data plan from Telus.

The carriers are forcing Canada into the mobile backwater because they won’t just bite the, short term, bullet and give us better data prices and real unlimited data plans that are affordable for mere mortals (mine isn’t very affordable, but I bite the bullet in the name of being connected).  Canada is a leader in so many other ways in tech, and especially online, it is a shame and embarrassment that we don’t have data plans to match.

Okay Telus, Bell, and Rogers get with it and bring Canadians into the 21st century!

Post from: EveryJoe

Rogers’ "unlimited data plan" is a consumer nightmare in the making